StevenC56

Our 2007 GS350 came with the Yokohama Advans from the factory. We're at 23K right now and they have been starting to ride harshly and follow grooves in the road worse and worse. My wife has never been happy with the feel of the car from day one, since she had a BMW 530i with sport suspension prior to the GS. The Lexus has really soft steering with no road feel compared to the BMW. I know tires are not going to change that situation, however these Advans have been following grooves and ruts worse and worse to the point where my wife is not enjoying the car like she was at first. I've been reading the reviews on Tire Rack and it looks like the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position may be a good choice. Any input, opinions, or advice?

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

The tires are the culprit! I would opt to get decent all season tires or summer tires.

For All Season Tires:

Continental DWS ( Smooth, comfortable, good traction)
Yokoham Advan S4 (very smooth and quiet)

Summer Tires

Michelin PS2


I get all my tires from Tirerack.com. I suggest you avoid the Brigestone Potenzas at all cost, I had those types before and they are not as good as they say they are online. For your wife, a decent smooth tires without the harshness, noise, and vibration is the key. Michelins are the best with Yokohama and Continental next.

TWong350

iTrader: (8)

Continental DWS FTW! PS2 are also good as well as Pilot Sport A/S+. I've also heard good things about General Exclaim UHP tires.

BinaryJay

Good luck actually buying the Continentals. I couldn't wait until the end of summer at the earliest for the backorder on those so I have a set of Ecsta LX Platinums sitting next to me in my office right now ready to go on the car hopefully on Monday.


Whole office smells like new rubber, yum.

StevenC56

Thanks for the replies. The Continentals are on eternal backorder. I'm sure the Michelin PS2's a great, however their price is more than I want to budget for. I'm in CA so summer tires work fine year round. Rexus 300-Which Bridgestone did you have bad luck with? As far as the reviews on the RE050A PP's on Tire Rack-Out of almost 300 reviews on Tire Rack only 20 people had a negative experience with them.

BinaryJay

If you're worried about budget and don't plan on racing your car then don't get summer tires... you'll be replacing them a lot sooner than a decent set of all seasons.

Take a look at the Ecsta LX Platinums, they have a treadwear rating of 600(!).

The RE050A Pole Position you mentioned have a terrible treadwear rating of 140.

StevenC56

Mileage isn't a huge concern. We put less than 10K on the car annually. I'm looking for a solid feel to try and improve the GS's soft steering as much as possible. In my experience, at about 3 years of age almost any tire starts to exhibit increased noise, harsher ride, and generally poor handling. The factory Advans are only 50% worn at 23K and feel way different than they did new.

BinaryJay

I think tires should be good (wear related issues aside) for at least 6 or 7 years, especially if you keep the car garaged and out of the sun while it's not being used. That still adds up to a good 70,000+ miles in your case.

I've never heard of anybody having to replace tires because the rubber has gone brittle or rotten after only 3 years, myself included even when I had no choice but to leave my cars outside 100% of the time.

I found this tidbit online:

"Major tire manufacturers like Michelin and Continental recommend that if a tire exceeds 10 years of age the tire should be taken out of service. Many car manufacturers also recommend that tires not be used after 10 years."

I assume you're looking at even more than 10 years if you store the tires out of the sun and use them when they are mounted on the car at least once every week or two to prevent flat spotting etc.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Irregardless if it is summer tires that make the car better handling, all season tires are better in long time wear and keeping the car steering consistent as the tire wears. My Michelins have a 60k miles warranty and I have already done 30k miles on them, no tramlining, vibration, pulling, noise, or harshness that I felt on Bridgestones (at even 10k miles before wearing out) and the standard Yokohamas.

For your wife, a decent all season tires are perfect for the handling character of the car that will make it feel close to the BMW 5 series as I have a 3 Series with Michelins Exaltos, and my Lexus feels sporty like the BMW even with the slightly softer steering. But the Lexus is still straight and sharp on the highways and stays in the center line.

StevenC56

What model Michelins are you running?

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Since i could not settle with any good tires with long warranty and good ride comfort, I settled on the Michelin Primacy MXV4 Tires. They come in size 245/45/18 which is slightly thicker than the original 245/40/18 size that comes with the car. But its so smooth, and comfortable with minor rubbing when doing full reverse which has become nonexistent now since the thread has worn down 40% of the way. Since you live in California, I would recommend the Yokohama Advan S4( I have those on my Audi A8L sedan) and I am getting 40k out of them and they are very solid tires for this big sedan. It will be my next choice for the GS.

These tires will far outperform your standard Yokohama Advan and make the car a joy to drive.

StevenC56

Not rotten after 3 years. Noisy and rough riding due to the tire structure changing from so many hot and cold cycles. It happens on motorcycle tires as well. I'm sure some tire designs change less than others.

BinaryJay

I dunno, I've never noticed this happening before and I've had crappier tires on crappier cars for much longer than that in the past even kept outside 24/7. I'm not that sensitive to it, I guess.

StevenC56

Well, I think I have the choices down to 3. Bridgestone RE960AS Pole Position, Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus, & Yokohama Advan S.4.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Here are my experiences with first 4. Last 2 are other experiences from others and reviews.

Brigestone Pontenza Pole 960 RE were defective tires (after replacing initial set of 4 with new ones - kept having vibration on my GS even with road force balancing. Too harsh over the pavement joints and bumps even with low PSI pressure of 31-33 and worse with higher pressure. Got them taken back by discount tire after 3k miles.

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S- I had the previous version (non-plus) on my GS and it was a joy initially until 10k miles it became noisy, caused pulling to the right, had to replace 2 side tires at 5k by lexus dealer due to radial pull problem. It was bad in rain in temperature below 40. Got rid of them after 11k miles.

Yokohama Advan S4- On my fully loaded 2006 Audi A8L with 19 inch rims- a phenomenal tire!!! So smooth, grippy, wears well and absorbs bumps and does not transmit road imperfections at all. I have air suspension on the Audi though. It is still good. The reviews will show the Yokohama very close to the Pilots and the new Continental DWS. It will be great for the GS also.

Michelin MXV4- A great all season tire I have but slightly larger size since they do not have 245/40/18. I love them and it makes my GS feel solid and sporty and like a real Lexus. However the rubbing initially might set you off when you turn full turns reverse and sometimes forward. (rarely)

Continental DWS- People are raving about his tire. Its suppose to outclass the other all season performance tires and even with 50K miles warranty!

Michelin PS2- Summer tires are also good. Poor thread wear though. Approx 20k miles or 25k at the most.